1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to verifying the identity of a user on a public computer network; in particular, the present invention provides user identity verification using a video sequence.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
User identity verification on the internet is a difficult problem. Various systems have been developed to help increase the likelihood (hence, the assurance) that a person is in fact who he or she purports to be. To verify the identity of a user, a typical resource on the internet (e.g., websites) merely relies on the user to present to the resource a previously established username and password combination. However, such a mechanism can easily be compromised in many ways. As online services become more sophisticated, it has become very important to have a reliable means for verifying a user's true identity.
There are many identity verification mechanisms already in use that distinguish between a request for access to a resource initiated by a human person from one that is initiated by an automaton (i.e., a computer program). For instance, some services employ “captchas” to ensure that the user presenting access credentials is a human person. On other sites, a user is required to submit his or her telephone number, so that the site may deliver a code to the submitted telephone number. The code thus delivered is required to be used by the user in a subsequent interaction with the site. In this method, the identity of the person is tied to a telephone number presented by the user. More recently, certain sites are mailing a postcard to an address submitted by the user as his or her home address. In this manner, the identity of a user is verified by a particular address submitted by the user. However, none of these services verifies the identity of a user by his or her appearance.